It has been officially confirmed that Spanish Formula 1 team HRT have been put up for sale by Spanish investment company Thesan Capital, only just over a year after the company bought the team from previous owner Jose Ramon Carabante. This comes only several days before the penultimate race of the season at Austin in Texas.
The 2012 season has been a bittersweet affair for HRT, after the team initially failed to qualify for the opening race of the season in Australia. Since then, the team have gradually improved and have also moved in to their new headquarters at Madrid. However, this has failed to see the team raise themselves off of the bottom of the Constructors’ Championship, remaining considerably behind their nearest competitors of Marussia and Caterham.
Whilst the team strive to end the season on a positive note on the track at the United States and Brazilian Grands Prix, the team are also endeavoring to announce their new owners in the near future. Speculation over who this might be is ripe within the Formula 1 community, with rumors of a Middle Eastern-based buyer a strong possibility.
"The current owners of HRT Formula 1 Team, TC II S.a.rl., would like to confirm that they are currently in talks with a number of groups interested in buying the team," read an official statement from the team. “HRT Formula 1 Team’s current management hopes to conclude the sale in the upcoming weeks and, with it, enable the team to continue progressing and become a reference in modern-day Formula 1 after the important achievements already accomplished in this 2012 season.
“HRT Formula 1 Team hopes to communicate the name of its new owner in the upcoming weeks. We believe the moment to let new investors come through for HRT Formula 1 Team has arrived. We’re very proud of the work done by the entire team and of the excellent sporting evolution achieved but the time has come for the team to continue growing with new financial backing. We’re convinced that the sporting potential of the team is huge and that the presence of new investors can give it a big boost."
Currently the team have only confirmed one driver for next season, with Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa set to continue with the team for what be a second successive season. However, de la Rosa’s team-mate for 2013 has yet to be confirmed with drivers including Narain Karthikeyan, Dani Clos and even Ma Qing Hua rumored as likely candidates.
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